The name Bapu is interchangeably used for Telugu Tradition, Striking Looks and Incredible Wit. His sketches speak of amazing Telugu Nativity, Simple Beauty and the typical households of Telugu People. His films speak not only of mythology, but also of contemporary issues like feminism, politics and what not? Though his demise has devastated all his admirers throughout the country, his work would be cherished for a lifetime. iQlikmovies.com brings you some of the lesser known facts about the legendary personality:
* Bapu garu’s cartoons are quite different and have a special mark. However, Bapu’s guru is Gopulu Garu- Another prominent cartoonist.
* Bapu Garu loved to sketch with music in the background. It sure must have created the ideal ambience he needed while doing such artistic job! He is an ardent fan of famous ghazal singers Mehdi Hassan and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and had a huge collection of their works.
* Bapu along with his closest friend Ramana used to watch Hollywood movies on floor tickets during their stay in Chennai. Otherwise, they used to watch those films in video cassettes! This shows the eternal bond of friendship between the two gentlemen. Their friendship began right from childhood days and Bapu garu used to sketch for Ramana’s stories in Andhra Patrika.
* There was another great dimension of Art in Bapu garu. He used to play the mouth organ quite well and melodiously.
* Ramana garu was two years elder to Bapu garu. Their tenure began from childhood, continued with film journey till Ramana’s demise after Sri Rama Rajyam.
* Bapu garu is extremely fond of the Hindu Epic Books Ramayana and Mahabharata. He made sure some aspect of these two epics is touched in every film of his till the recent Sri Rama Rajyam. Muthyala Muggu almost draws parallel to the entire story of Ramayana in the social conditions of 70s.
* The popular wedding song ‘Srirastu Subhamasthu’ from Pelli Pustakam was shot with the unit crew instead of using any extra or junior artists. This shows the great bonding of filming teams from those days.
* Bapu and Ramana never preferred the concept of Makeup for the heroines in their films. Veteran actress Vanisri acted without makeup for the first time in Bapu’s Gorantha Deepam.
* The artistic poster of Adurthi Subba Rao’s Mooga Manasulu starring ANR, Savitri and Jamuna was designed by Bapu garu.
* With the insistence of Sr.NTR, Bapu made a documentary for kids. There is a special book series ‘Bommalu Geeyandi’ by Bapu garu himself in order to teach basics of sketching- in the Bapu way!
* The most popular Bapu font emerged with the idea of writing letters without much gap in between them. The font is so popular now that it is used for wedding cards, glow sign boards which demand the typical Telugu Nativity.
* Eminent filmmaker Vamshi began his career as a novelist and writer before coming into Film World. He is so fond of Bapu garu that every published book of his would have had a cover sketched by Bapu garu. Many of his popular books like Pasalapudi Kadhalu, Akupacchani Gnapakam, Aa Naati Vaana Chinukulu have a visual extravaganza of Bapu’s sketches.